Flat Hunting From Another Country {Part 2}

we began the next step, finding the places in Londonthat would offer these needs&wants.

1) The first thing we did was look for areas that cater to people like us
This involved a lot of Google searches for area guides, etc.,
but I'll make it easy for you and list the ones I found most helpful:

-London Rentonomy is an interactive area guide map, where it provides you with the type of area, largest age group, most common nationalities, rent average, transportation, etc.
The site goes into detail for each one of these points listed above - it's a great tool full of information!

-Stuck in London doesn't have as large of a list as the others named here, but they list everything that these other sites do, as well as the good and the bad to living in each place. I've used Stuck in London quite a bit, because it's not too often you find sites that list the downsides to each area, which is something that I like to be aware of.

-Kinleigh, Folkard, & Hayward is an estate agency, but they've got a great section on their website that provides the top five features of each area, what parks and transport is around, and the best things about living in each place!

-TimeOut London lists things to do in each area; popular bars, clubs, restaurants, etc., as well as the areas that neighbor.

- And if you're looking for student accommodation, your university will have housing options for you on their website.
There are also plenty of student accommodation buildings that aren't affiliated to any particular university. The best way to find these are going on Accommodation for Students and looking to the right sidebar, that lists afs partners.
I haven't used the actual Accommodation for Students website search, but use it for their partners (oops)
These are all student living estate agents, that mostly offer studio flats.
This is a great option if you are moving by yourself and are looking to be surrounded by other students.

There are PLENTY of other sites with area guides similar to this, so feel free to do your own searches as well. These few sites are just the ones that I stuck with the most.

2) After looking at all of this information
along with the previous notes regarding transport links, distance from school/work, etc.
we narrowed it down to around 5 areas that were the best in distance/qualities, as well as environment.

This will give you your list of areas that suite you best.

Once you have this list, you're ready for the FINAL stage before you start viewing to find your property.

50 comments

We're really down to Islington or Kennington/Peckham/Brixton. Really just the NE or S - Heather's school is in the east by Mile End, and I'm in central by Baker Street, so we had a lot of figuring out to do on what would be good areas that were convenient for both of us. My top choice probably would've been Fulham or Islington if we didn't have to think about anything!What area are you in?

So for some reason I didn't realize you were actually moving to the UK again soon. I don't even know. Total brain freeze. I can't imagine how stressful/exciting it must be! I was lucky in the past because my teaching job came with housing.

Hahahahah I think changing my name from 'Adventures Abroad,' could easily throw anyone off to thinking I'm just living anywhere. But yes - August I'll be back! It's so so so stressful but beyond exciting knowing that everything I've been working towards in the past few years is finally coming together!

I found and rented an apartment in Boston from California. Didn't even see pictures, just found a roommate. Got there, and it turns out it was across the street (literally) from Fenway Park. That was the year the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years. 40,000 people outside my bedroom window, celebrating like mad. It was so cool. BEST APARTMENT EVER!

Cori...my boyfriend goes to Berklee and his apartment last year was on Peterborough, like 2 blocks from Fenway...this year he'll be on Boylston and his back door will basically open right up to the park...I love visiting him during baseball season! We love just walking around Fenway as games are getting out!